Lighted gloves have long been desirable as people want the source of light where they can use it. People often work with their hands such that light at the source of the hands is highly desirable. The light, however, should be even more specifically located at the palm side of the hand as that is the side where manipulations may be performed. Many attempts have been made, but all are found lacking.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,711,746, entitled Glove Apparatus, issued to Orellana on Mar. 30, 2004 discloses a glove that has light around the palm area of the hand. The light source, however, is chemically based light, col. 2, lines 51-57, which provides a weak light that is of a single use variety. These chemical lights are positioned on the parts of the glove that typically receive the most wear or usage, since the pressure of use causes the chemicals to mix. Such a location interferes with a users functioning of their hand as they lose tactile communication with the object being manipulated.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,709,142, entitled Nighttime Glove, issued to Gyori discloses an alternate location the tips of the gloves. While the light is close to the palms, objects being manipulated remain in the shadows adjacent the light source and the lights interfere with the tactile contact as user may desire in the finger tips. U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,235 (Mayo), entitled Light Emitting Glove and U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,105 (Koenen Meyeres et al.), entitled Work Glove and Illumination Assembly have similar locations and problems.
United States Patent Application 2004/0128736 discloses a Glove with Integrated Light. Here the light is positioned on the back of the glove and lacks lighting in the palm area as shown in FIG. 2 thereof. Similar positioning and problems are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,676 (Koenen Myers et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,011 (Bain et al.)
Mead discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,357 a signaling glove. The glove includes a light in the palm area where such light interferes with tactile contact with the object and is easily damages both the light and user's hand when pressure is applied with the hand.
To get around pressure problem, tactile interference, damage to the system and yet keep the light near the palm, Smyly Jr. came up with an interesting approach. A pen-shaped is attached to the back of the hand with a tip pointing toward the palm. Such bulky configuration is perhaps the safest and most functional of all the prior attempts.
What is needed is a lighted glove where the lights are more than a single use type, e.g., non-chemical. The light should be positioned on the palm side of the glove, yet should be positioned in such a location that the light does not suffer through unnecessary stresses. The light should not interfere with normal tactile feel. Moreover, the light and associated connections should be protected from the corrosive effects of human sweat. The prior attempts have sought to meet these needs, but are found lacking in the execution.